The Dúlra Region [UR]

[Managrimm]

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​

The Lucario Darilan took in a breath as he took his first steps onto Dulran soil, his eyes quietly scanning over Calafort city. This town, the most advanced of Dulra's cities by far, seemed nothing short of pitifully primitive compared to the average Cerian city. For the duration of his stay here, he'd be bereft of all of the conveniences of his more modern society.

This would no doubt prove to be an interesting experience.

On his left was the human Daltom, a short, lean man clad in Kevlar with a strange pistol of Cerian make holstered at his side. On his right was the Azumarill Saevi, notable for her dark fur. A small, black satchel was fitted to her round form. Both held serious decorum as they walked respectfully behind the Lucario.

Darilan gave a single, meaningful nod to the men sent to greet him. He raised his left arm and a wrist-mounted computer flipped open, its input specially designed to suit a Lucario's paws. He typed quickly and skillfully for his biology, and a computerized voice emanated seamlessly from the device.

"Thank you for your hospitality," the machine said in crisp monotone. A smile tugged at the edges of Darilan's muzzle at the look of his greeters' surprise. "I look forward to learning more of your culture."

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Ambassador Darilan, Bodyguard Daltom, and Bodyguard Saevi have arrived!​

 

[Managrimm]

My vote: Glance over the letter, get a quick concept of if it contains anything important, and then go to the meeting. Glancing at the contents for an idea of what it's about will only take a few moments. Do it on the way to the meeting. Letters are remarkably portable.

 

[Winter]

I'm s sucker for research and want to say investigate that wax seal, but efficiency calls, so we must ride on the winds. See General Tiomaint and update ourselves post-haste.

 

[Twilight Storm]

Name: Aiden
Trainer Class: Boarder
Pokémon: Glaceon, Mamoswine, Froslass, Glalie
First Pokémon (Partner):Eevee
Additional Information:Aiden came from Johto, and was Pryce's best apprentice. Aiden became so good at training ice types, he almost took over Pryce's gym leader place, but because he was nice, he let Pryce keep his ice type gym leader placing. He was known as the The Teacher Of Icy Pokemon.He came to Dulra to prove he's the strongest ice type trainer around.

 

[Twilight Storm]

Sorry if the additional information is bad. I suck at writing...

 

[Jay]

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"Run that by me again? An object in the sky?"

Standing in a hallway near the entrance to the temple, illuminated by light filtering in through pillars... The champion rose an eyebrow to his news. What in Dúlra was Tiomaint talking about? He called him to discuss what was presumed to be a serious matter and this is what he got in return? Some random nonsense about a floating object?

"I'm busy today Theo, floating rocks aren't exactly uncommon on Dueala correct? Why is this an issue at all?"

Tíomaint cringed gently as he tried to explain and Durahan listened intently, whatever this was it seemed to be important to the general. Unbeknownst to most, Tíomaint and The Champion were the same age and had actually both grown up, together, in Rinne city. Friends since their younger years, Durahan could tell when Theo was troubled and he noticed that not he was deeply so.

"Sir..." Theo began, gripping his hands into fists with frustration. "This wasn't like anything we've ever seen before. It wasn't just an ordinary rock... look, lemme recap. A squadron of us were flying through the air in the waters between Dueala and Dúlra... nothing serious, just the regular Pidgeot patrol... and that's when we saw that strange stone..."

The Champion crossed his arms and rose an eyebrow. Clearly not convinced that this wasn't just another loose stone floating away from the unique magnetic rocks in Cogadh city.

"It was carved sir, it looked like letter of the unknown from a distance but we couldn't tell for certain... the shape was that of a strange tablet, but that's not the weirdest part. It had a strange energy around it... like an aura but different."

Finally The Champions eyebrows rose. With one sentence the situation had gone from passable to intriguing. He responded with genuine intrigue.

"Different how?"

Theo frowned for a moment, as if looking for the words to explain.

"It felt... stronger, like that single piece of rock held the aura of countless creatures in itself, it was so palpable we could see it. The tablet itself was surrounded by a pink glow. We tried to approach it, to reach out to it, but when we did it just... vanished."

Durahan pursed his brow and frowned. This was incredibly strange, not just a lump of rock but a carved tablet? Seemingly perfectly formed and floating idly around the skies of Dúlra? It was buzzing with something similar to aura, yet the aura was so undeniably powerful that it almost seemed to belong to countless numbers of creatures at once. So strong was this aura that it could be seen... Theo was an aura guardian, meaning he could sense aura if he concentrated... but from how the general described it it almost seemed like that the tablets aura was strong enough to physically manifest so that he and his squadron of non aura-guardians could just... SEE it. This was highly unusual... maybe even impossible unless the aura was being channeled by the tablet purposefully. But it was a stone, how could it? How could it have an aura at all unless it was... alive?

Theo was right to be so disturbed... but Durahan himself couldn't check it with his schedule, there was still that letter to attend to.

"Tíomaint... you were right to inform me of this..." He said somberly. "But I haven't the time to check into this matter personally."

"Do you know what's going on sir?" Theo had a slight furrow in his brow, expressing his worry quite eloquently, it only furrowed further as The Champion shook his head.

"I'm afraid I do not... in fact, I have no idea whatsoever. Which is why I'd like you to look personally into this regard. Question the sky patrol men about anything and everything they have experienced, especially any strange happenings. If we can get more information about the goings on in the sky then we may come closer to solving this problem."

Bowing briefly and holding an arm across his chest, Tíomaint diligently nodded before turning to go about his duties. The Champion, a slight worry on his mind, turned the opposite way to return to his office.

Decision time, get ready to vote:

Whom should the story follow now?

- Tíomaint, as he gather information about the floating object in Dúlra's skies.
- Champion Durahan, as he returns to his office and sets about investigating the letter.

NOTE:

Changing the character which the story follows will provide a different perspective to events and will most likely change the feel of the story as things progress. The main character of the story will always be the character currently followed and thus this characters inner thoughts and machinations will always be the ones explained outside of dialogue. Getting this additional information might give hints to useful and important questions that you can ask the followed character.

If you swap characters you might not get to follow a different character for a while, so choose wisely!

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You can ask the following NPC's questions at this point in time:

Durahan, Champion of Dúlra

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Tíomaint, Head General of Dúlra​

 

[Jay]

Name: Aiden
Trainer Class: Boarder
Pokémon: Glaceon, Mamoswine, Froslass, Glalie
First Pokémon (Partner):Eevee
Additional Information:Aiden came from Johto, and was Pryce's best apprentice. Aiden became so good at training ice types, he almost took over Pryce's gym leader place, but because he was nice, he let Pryce keep his ice type gym leader placing. He was known as the The King Of Icy Pokemon.He came to Dulra to prove he's the strongest ice type trainer around.

...hmm, just one thing.

The title of "King" is not smiled upon in Dúlra at all. In the past they had a King, however said King is now called the "Champion" and serves as an overall ruler to the Dúlra region as well as head of the pokémon league there. Whether he is a king or not, the title or nickname of king would be an unpopular choice for Dúlra and thus I request this be changed.

Should you change the backstory for the character then I will be happy to something more suitable, then I will be happy to let you join.

 

[Twilight Storm]

Oh. Never knew that. I edited it. Is it okay now?

 

[ghostly]

"Voting for 'Champion Durahan, as he returns to his office and sets about investigating the letter.' As for the reason why: I do want to research about the floating object... however, I find myself getting curious about the letter, its continents may have some importance that is needed to be dealt with as fast as possible. Apart from that, the suspicious object seems to be docile and has not cause harm... yet. Hm... How troubling."

 

[Candy]

I find both situations truly intriguing. Yes, I do.

But for now I shall vote for "Champion Durahan, as he returns to his office and sets about investigating the letter." as I want to know what secret is hidden underneath the mysterious letter.

 

[Managrimm]

Follow Durahan. Let's find out what this other mystery has to offer.

 

[Jay]

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It had started to rain outside... Durahan hoped that Beedrill had decided to come inside. He wouldn't want him to get sick.

Durahan enters his office peacefully, he had a certain grace about him at all times... a certain elegance. It was quite a desirable quality to many while other viewed it as a weakness. He himself however, did not seem to care much for his social habits. You see, Durahan was the type of fellow who valued his business... he was good at what he did and he didn't care much for what the World thought of that. His priority was maintaining balance and protecting the people of Dúlra, however his dedication lead to a rather interesting type of personality... one oblivious to many slight and friendly social norms.

The emotions and inner workings of the girl in front of him being a prime example.

Little Miss Allia was a young sixteen years old to his twenty-four. She was a teenage girl and for some reason she was his secretary. He had only bothered to give her the job on the merit that she was Theo's cousin... and that she apparently was very good at his job. Durahan did have to admit that she was indeed a talented file keeper... but the girl was so damned lazy that he rarely got to see her in action. If that wasn't bad enough... she had this odd mannerism about her, whenever he tried to have a direct conversation with the girl she got so very flustered. Was it because he was the Champion? Had the effect of his title not worn off after the two months she had known him?

Regardless of how she acted, she was still snoring and sleeping there on her desk... snoring and wasting the day away. She had bought these horrible gaudy trinkets imported to Dúlra in Calafort. A pair of feathered wings and a long black tail which she had tied a ribbon similar to those from her hair into. It was all fake and completely useless really. So he had to wonder why she bothered to wear it at all, she had called it something like "PosClay"? "CosDay?" "MossParade?" he hadn't payed it much head so he didn't remember.

Sitting down on his chair he gripped a pen and piece of paper and took a second to remember what he was actually doing. He would need these to write a reply to the letter... but he'd have to read it first of course. He was quite... scatterbrained as always. Still...

Reaching back with the pointed pen he gently poked the cold metal tip into Allia's shoulder, causing the girl to jump awake with a start as he smirked with a slight bemusement.

"Ahh? Finally awake are we? I worried you'd never awaken."

Turning quickly, flustered, startled and still somewhat drowsy from her sudden awakening, Allia's face turned a bright red as she saw the Champions smirk and took a few seconds to comprehend his words.

"W-were you watching me sleep?! What time is it...?"

The Champion, his smirk returning to a daydreaming and oblivious expression, held the letter gently in his hands before answering.

"Watching you? Not at all. In fact I've already been to a meeting and back... you do snore rather loudly however."

Allia started burning up with embarrassment as she covered her face with her hands.

"You heard me snore... was I that bad?! Oh Arceus why... why did he have to hear me do that..."

She continued mumbling to himself, but Durahan was no longer paying attention. He gently pried the wax seal away from the letter and held it in his hand momentarily. It was so peculiarly familiar... but why? He swore he recognized it from somewhere... yet there was no time for decision now. He had to read this letter, business came before personal introgue.

...and yet...

Durahan poked her shoulder again to make her stop mumbling and look up before he tossed the wax seal into the teenage girls hands.

"E-eh...? What's this? It's warm..." She stammered, still a little woozy.

"Allia, I need you to take that to the library... and discover for me the region that its emblem relates to." As Durahan spoke he looked at the seal one last time. The wax seal in her hands seemed to hold the semblance of a blazing fire held above the clouds. There was something familiar about it even now... yet for some reason it also looked new. How strange.

Allia seemed a little distracted before shaking her head and jumping from her seat resolutely. The wax seal held between her index finger and thumb by the edge, to minimize melting.

"Y-yes sir! Champion! Durahan! Sir! I'll go at once!" Before saying anything else, the girl still red in the face rushed out the door. Moments later and confused and drowsy looking Marill waltzed out from under Allia's desk, rubbed the sleep from its eyes and looked around for a minute before jumping up in panic and dashing for the door after its partner, squealing in protest as it did.

Durahan, at long last, opened the letter after a chuckle. But his expression immediately turned somber as he read the contents. Despite the official nature of the letter the contents were scrawled without a care, the penmanship was rushed as if the writer didn't really have the time for that sort of thing... however it was what the letter said that shocked him the most.

"You've got a sweet gig goin' here, dontcha Mr. Champion?
Listen up, I've got a bone to pick with you an' your region.
You meet me, Northern edge of the desert, as soon as possible.
I wanna see just what your balance has gotten you.
You better come. I can't guarantee the safety of some innocent folk 'round here if it ain't you specifically.

See you then, Champ.

~ Somethin' like an old friend.

What?... Was this a threat? Durahan stood from his desk so quickly that it startled his still sleeping Lucario awake, which proceeded to give him a worried look. Was this individual... aiming to harm his citizens? Were they going to hurt innocent people? He couldn't let that happen.

This person referred to themselves as an old friend. The insignia? Was it a former ally of Dúlra? An old enemy come back from the grave to hurt them?

He had to find out the truth of whom this individual was to ascertain the threat... but what if the writer was getting impatient? What if they were hurting his people right then and there? If he hurried after Allia then he might get his info sooner...

But could he really afford to take that risk? He had to decide.

Decision time, get ready to vote:

What should Durahan do?

- Follow after Allia and try to find the truth behind the insignia as soon as possible.
- There's no time to waste. Go to the Northern edge of Scalladh Desert and confront the writer of the letter.

​

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You can ask the following NPC's questions at this point in time:

Durahan, Champion of Dúlra

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Tíomaint, Head General of Dúlra

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Allia, Secretary to the Champion

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[ghostly]

FINALLY UPDATED VIESNA. <333

 

[Winter]

Better go visit that writer. Sounds like a threat to me and the possibility of perilous consequences should we not meet.

 

[Nagi]

"I think it's important to keep a cool head in this situation. It doesn't sound like there is any immediate danger, provided you meet with him soon. Before diving headfirst into a confrontation, it's best to learn as much as possible about this mysterious sender. You should follow after Allia and try to find the truth behind the insignia as soon as possible."

 

[Managrimm]

Seconded, follow after Allia and try to find the truth behind the insignia as soon as possible.

 

[ghostly]

"(General is very irritating even as I ask questions... mhp.) ...I have been struggling to make a decision. I do want the Champion to meet this so called 'friend', lest they go with their threat. Yet. There is a high probability of an ambush. The Champion is strong, however, can they keep on going if there is a chance they have multiple reinforcement? They may have researched our Champion's strength to form a plan...

...I vote for 'Follow after Allia and try to find the truth behind the insignia as soon as possible.'.

There will be risks if I chose the other option, there is little information to go by, the insignia may provide a hint. I know there may be chances of the secretary finding no answer, however, I have faith. I hope that I made a right decision. I may never bring myself to face my General if something happens to his long-time friend... no matter how irritating I feel about him."

 

[esperance]

I agree with the reasoning so far. Rushing than into an unknown situation with an unknown threat, we should at least eliminate a few of the unknown factors and learn about the seal. So I vote to follow Allia.

 

[Candy]

Knowing the enemy is important. And thus, I vote to follow Allia.

 

[Jay]

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NOTE:

Due to Lise [Nagi] asking Champion Durahan the correct question. The option to go and meet with the writer immediately has been selected.

Occasionally, if a specific question is asked to a specific character, a realization can be made. As a result certain choices in a decision might be removed or a specific decision may be chosen automatically.

Durahan had been running for hours, his aura allowed him to keep his stamina up for extended periods of time... but a trek such as this was taking its toll even on him. However, he could let nobody else know of this mission... not even his trusted pokémon. He thought carefully as he ran, the Northern edge of Scalladh Desert grew ever closer. Despite the advice from the others he had chosen to go to meet with the writer immediately. Why? Because he had realized with the help of Lise and her questioning just who the seal belonged to.

The region of Kasai.

In the ancient past Kasai had been the sister nation of Dúlra, however due to a devastating event the region sunk beneath the waves and the remnants of the civilization were thought to have come together to form the city of Rósta right there in Dúlra. The Dúlra region had thought they had saved all the survivors... but for someone to send him a letter sealed with the symbol of Kasai? Could it be possible that there were still traces of ancient Kasai left standing? Had there been more survivors still?

If that was the case... then why? Why would a member of Kasai send such an ominous letter to the Champion of their most ancient ally? Durahan had to find out. The night had taken over the sky... and the moon beamed down it's pale white light to cover the area. It was all but dark otherwise. As Durahan neared the edge of the Northern Desert however, he saw yet another light... a burning flame crossing the ground... and a young man standing in front of it. The sand before him glistened as it merged and cleared in the flame, forming into glass.

A cigarette was flicked onto the ground as the young man placed his broadsword upon his shoulder.

He spoke, as if he sensed the Champion approaching behind him

"Are ya surprised? Look at this? No death, no destruction. Only a little bit of fire. I didn't even hurt nobody."

Durahan gripped the hilt of his sword as he approached, unsure of the mans intentions. It was very rare to see another swordsman in this world of pokémon, but if this individual was truly descended from Kasai then perhaps it made too much sense.

"I wouldn't have suspected a noble of the Kasai region to harm innocents."

The man scoffed and turned, his eyes were a deep brown and his hair matched, a long pony tail flowed out behind him and his fringe was loosely tamed by a red headband. He wore a metal belt buckle around his waste... the word "Free" was hastily etched into it. He held the sword tightly in his hand and lowered it to the ground.

"Already got me figured out do ya? Seems like I need to give you balance bashers more credit of intelligence."

Durahan rose an eyebrow and drew his blade.

"Excuse me?"

The stranger took a battle ready stance, the edge of his blade aimed outward and his brow narrowed.

"You didn't hear me? Maybe you're stupid after all, you're tossing me up and down with an emotional rollercoaster Durahan. Now I'll put it plain and simple... I'm here to eradicate you and your ideals of balance from the World. Following your damn order is a quick way to death and nothing else... so I'll strike you down as the source and adapt your people one by one. Does that seem fair enough to you?"

Durahan swiped his blade through the air and his eyes flared blue.

"Who on Earth are you to say those things to me?! A Champion?! If you dare to threaten the order and people of this region then you are an enemy... both to Dúlra AND Kasai!"

The other man growled in a menacing tone and stomped ferociously on the ground.

"You think you can speak about us? About my home? You're delusional! Your balance, your ideals are the reason we almost died... the natural order tried to wipe us out and yet we thrived! We don't need your "balance"! Not anymore!"

Durahan closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself before holding his blade outwards, the white blade gave a gentle shimmer in the moonlight as Durahan poised it into a dueling stance.

"We'll see about that."

With a grunt of acceptance the man held his blade loosely yet with a strange sense of authority. He seemed more than ready to fight against Durahan at full force and he charged forward with an almost scary sense of anticipation in his eyes.

"Haha! Ready to go already?! I expected more resistance! Very well Champion! Shinnen of Kasai accepts your challenge!"

The man known as Shinnen lunged and swung his blade down with force strong enough to pierce deep into the sandy ground below. Predicting the early attack however, Durahan had sidestepped and spun, swinging his blade in a clockwise arc to strike at his opponents side. Shinnen however showed a great sense of speed as well as power, pulling it from the ground and angling it on a dime, he blocked the attack with the thick side of the heavy metal broadsword he carried. Staggered slightly, Durahan was faster still as he began unleashing a flurry of attacks upon his opponent, the more he fought the more passion flowed into his blade... his aura flared onto the blade as it took on a blue glow.

"Shinnen? A Kasain name for certain... but your attitude is anything but noble! You come to MY home! Make false threats to MY people... and challenge me to a duel on MY turf... and why?! Because you want to erase the ideals of we as Dúlrans?! You WILL stop this! Now!"

Shinnen's eyes flared as he gritted his teeth to every word, he moved his blade as fast as he could, blocking every strike bar one, the final blow slipped past his defense and sliced against his cheek, drawing blood. In a rageful counter, Shinnen raised his knee and kicked harshly forward, knocking Durahan back a significant amount.

Holding his weapon high Shinnen let out an aggressive roar and a flowing red energy engulfed his massive blade. Durahan's eyes widened... it couldn't have been... was this man an Aura Guardian?! Before the thought could be processed, Durahan had to leap to the side as once again Shinnen leaped forward, his sword sliced left, then right, up and down in a slew of powerful attacks with a window in between just a second too small for Durahan to counter.

"Hypocritical... piece of... Rapidash dung! What makes you think you have the right to give me orders?! YOUR people abandoned mine in the past, you saved those who drifted ashore, only for the rest of us to be left to the hands of fate... danger or no you and your kind should have tried harder to save us back then! But no! You left us to balance! You left us to fate! The World wanted us DEAD and you were ready to ACCEPT THAT!"

As Shinnen swung again, Durahan rose his blade to block and was knocked backwards by the impact, his feet dragged against the sand as he landed and barely stood upright. Both men's aura's were flaring violently and their blades were almost comparable to coloured vessels of light. They were both filled with passion and neither was prepared to accept that they were wrong.

"I will not take responsibility for the actions of my ancestors. We did our best to save the people of Kasai when it sunk to the bottom of the ocean..."

"I've no beef with you or yours... but abiding by balance so carefully will only lead to you and your people's deaths... I ain't going to let your beliefs throw another bunch of folks into ruin."

Flaring further with energy, the two men poised themselves and charged forward, with all of their might channeled into a single swing, they clashed their blades and froze solid in place as the energy around them dispersed as a powerful shockwave that shot outwards from their dual attack. A wave of power pierced the sky, swept across the sand and burrowed deep into the ground to the ear piercing sound of clanging metal. Both men were immovable forces as the slight grinding sound of blade on blade continued for the moments to follow, there was only this as they both pushed forward, determined to break the others stance... when suddenly...

The ground began to crack and crumble.

Before either man could react, the sandy ground beneath their feet broke away to an almost abyssal chasm, with no floor to stand on the men's blades released their grip and they flailed in shock as they fell. Their quick and solid cries pierced the night sky as they disappeared into nothing...

...and there was silence. No trace of the battle even remained outside of the massive, gaping chasm that had proven the victor over both warriors.

The subtle scuttling of pokémon would breach the ear and the moonlight gently hummed down. From the darkness below, neither Durahan nor Shinnen could be heard nor seen.

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Decision time, get ready to vote:

There... are no options.

NOTE:

Occasionally during the story a situation so dire may be presented that there are no options that will lead to another chapter. However this is not the end... by asking the right questions to the right NPCs a new option may become available for the story to progress.

For example... if someone was made aware of the Champions location... then maybe...

​

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You can ask the following NPC's questions at this point in time:

Durahan, Champion of Dúlra

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Tíomaint, Head General of Dúlra

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Allia, Secretary to the Champion

​